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PRESIDENTS OF THE

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I

HARLAN CLEVELAND

CENTER FOR ORAL HISTORY

SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH INSTITUTE

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I AT MANOA

NOVEMBER 1998

Copyright © 1998 Center for Oral History

Social Science Research Institute University of Hawai'i at Manoa

These are slightly edited transcriptions of interviews conducted by the Center for Oral History, University of Hawai'i at Manoa. The reader should be aware that an oral history document portrays information as recalled by the interviewee. Because of the spontaneous nature of this kind of document, it may contain statements and impressions which are not factual.

People are welcome to utilize, in unpublished works, short excerpts from any of the transcriptions without obtaining permission as long as proper credit is given to the interviewee, interviewer, and the Center for Oral History. Permission must be obtained from the Center for Oral History for published excerpts and extensive use of transcriptions and related materials. Transcripts and cassette tapes may not be duplicated or reproduced by any party without permission from the Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2424 Maile Way, Social Sciences Building 724, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v PROJECT STAFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii PHOTOGRAPHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii

TRANSCRIPT Harlan Cleveland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

APPENDIX Prospectus for the Seventies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-1

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Center for Oral History gratefully acknowledges Kenneth P. Mortimer, President of the University of Hawai'i, who initiated the project and obtained funding for its implementation. Judith K. Inazu, Executive Assistant to the President, provided advice and administrative support .

In addition to Harlan Cleveland, Fujio Matsuda, and Albert J. Simone, we would like to acknowledge the following individuals:

James F. Cartwright, Archivist, Hamilton Library Special Collections, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai'i

Robert Chinn, Photographer, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai'i Lois Cleveland, wife of Harlan Cleveland, Sterling, Virginia Zoe Oeveland, daughter of Harlan Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Colorado Barry R. Culhane, Assistant to the President, Rochester Institute of Technology,

Rochester, New York Arlene M. Evangelista, Assistant to the President, Rochester Institute of Technology,

Rochester, New York Calvin Fujioka, Administrative Officer, Social Science Research Institute, University of

Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai'i Michael P. Hamnett, Director, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai'i at

Manoa, Honolulu, Hawai' i Jean H. Imada, Administrative Assistant to the President, University of Hawai'i at Manoa,

Honolulu, Hawai'i Richard H. Kosaki, former Chancellor, University of Hawai'i at Manoa and President, Tokai

University, Honolulu, Hawai'i Amy Matsuda, wife of Fujio Matsuda, Honolulu, Hawai'i Robert E. Potter, Professor Emeritus of Education, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu,

Hawai'i Carolie Simone, wife of Albert J. Simone, Rochester, New York Lyn K. Tong, Executive Administrative Assistant and Corporate Secretary, The Pacific

International Center for High Technology Research, Honolulu, Hawai'i Keith Vargo, Associate Fellow, The World Academy of Art and Science, Minneapolis,

Minnesota

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Center for Oral History Social Science Research Institute

Director and Principal Investigator WarrenS. Nishimoto

Research Coordinator Michl Kodama-Nishimoto

Research Associate Holly J. Yamada

Publications Specialist Cynthia A. Oshiro

Transcript Editor and Indexer Karen Matsuda

Student Transcribers Kimberly Dewey Karen Matsuda

Student Assistants Mirasol Budiao Randall Hironaka Stephanie Kuroda Lindsay Nishii Jennifer Yamamoto

PROJECT STAFF

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Above, Harlan Cleveland, University of Hawai 'i president, 1969-1974. (UH Office of University Relations) Above right, top, Visiting William F. Buckley, Jr. (left) interviews Harlan Cleveland, ca. 1970, Honolulu, Hawai 'i . UH students made up the studio audience. (UH Office of University Relations) Above right, Harlan Cleveland at a lii'au in his honor, 1969. (UH Photo Archives) Below, President Harlan Cleveland (right) and Vice President Richard H. Kosaki (second from right) visit with instructors and students of Kapi 'olani Community College, 1969. (UH Photo Archives)

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Above, Lt. Governor George Ariyoshi (second from left) and members of the University of Hawai 'i Board of Regents look on as Harlan Cleveland (center) takes part in a Honolulu Community College groundbreaking ceremony, 1970. (UH Photo Archives) Above right, Harlan and Lois Cleveland participate in campus planting, 1969. (UH Photo Archives) Below left, During the Interim Session, Harlan Cleveland delivers a talk entitled "A Prospectus for the Seventies," January 9, 1970. (UH Photo Archives) Below right, top, Harlan and Lois Cleveland, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1996. (COH photo) Below right, bottom, Warren Nishimoto (right) interviews Harlan Cleveland, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1996. (COH photo)

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INTRODUCTION

The Center for Oral History (COH), a unit of the Social Science Research Institute at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, was established in 1976. The only state-supported center of its kind in the islands, COH's major function is to research, conduct, transcribe, edit, and disseminate oral history interviews with persons possessing knowledge about Hawai'i's past. COH seeks to provide present and future researchers with first-person, primary-source documents with which to write history from a diversity of perspectives. Since its inception, COH has disseminated to repositories oral history interviews with approximately 500 interviewees, resulting in over 25,000 pages of transcripts.

COH also produces and provides educational materials and services (books, articles, brochures, lectures, etc.) based on the interviews, conducts classes and workshops on oral history methodology for individuals and community/educational groups, and serves as a clearinghouse for oral history research relating to Hawai'i.

University of Hawai'i Presidents Oral History Project Background and Methodology This is one of a series of transcript volumes of oral history interviews with former presidents of the University of Hawai'i. The idea for the interviews came from University of Hawai'i president Kenneth P. Mortimer, whose office provided funding and general fiscal support. Former UH presidents Harlan Cleveland, Fujio Matsuda, and Albert J. Simone were initially apprised of the project and invited via letter by President Mortimer to participate in the interviews.

COH director Warren Nishimoto met with Judith K. Inazu, executive assistant to the president, to discuss details and logistics of the oral history project then followed up President Mortimer's letter with a telephone call to each former president to secure their committnent. Only formally appointed presidents were to be interviewed; no acting presidents were included.

In order to place the UH presidency within the context of each president's life experiences, socioeconomic background, family, community, education, and academic and professional career, the interviews followed a chronological, life-history format. Each was asked to comment in detail on his years as UH president, focusing on his ambitions, goals, accomplishments, and disappointments. Each was also asked questions about his relationships with individuals and institutions inside and outside the university (i.e., the governor, legislature, board of regents, business leaders, deans/directors, faculty/staff, and students). Other major topics discussed include: reasons for and circumstances surrounding Cleveland, Matsuda, and Simone accepting and leaving the post; the major issues confronted during each presidency; and the presidents' roles and methods in dealing with issues . Finally, each former president was asked for an assessment of his strengths and weaknesses, his recommendations for the future of the University of Hawai'i, and reflective thoughts on life and career in Hawai'i and elsewhere.

Cleveland, Matsuda, and Simone were interviewed by Warren Nishimoto and Michiko Kodama­Nishimoto between January 1996 and September 1997. Most of the interviews were conducted in Hawai'i, where Cleveland often vacations, Matsuda lives full time, and Simone was flown to by the UH president's office to participate in the interviews. Additional interviews were conducted in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Cleveland was president of the World Academy of Art and Science, and Rochester, New York, where Simone resides and serves as president of the Rochester Institute of

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Technology.

Prior to taping, research was conducted and a list of topics determined. An untaped preliminary interview was conducted with each former president in order to establish rapport and obtain biographical information. Although no set questionnaire was used, the interviewers followed an outline of topics designed specifically for each interviewee. Each topic outline was constructed using biographical information from the preliminary interview, each president's vita, and research in primary and secondary sources. The taped interviews were conducted on audio cassettes. Each president was interviewed for approximately sixteen hours, with each interview session lasting an average of 1 ~ hours.

The interviews were transcribed amost verbatim by COH-trained student transcribers. The transcripts were then audio reviewed against the cassette tapes by the interviewer, then edited slightly for clarity and historical accuracy.

The transcripts were then sent to the interviewees for their review and approval. The interviewees were asked to verify names and dates and clarify statements where necessary. COH then incorporated the interviewees' changes.

Prior to releasing their transcripts for publication, the interviewees read and signed a legal document releasing all rights, title, and interest to the edited transcripts to the University of Hawai'i Center for Oral History for scholarly and educational use.

Harlan Cleveland Following the resignation of Thomas H. Hamilton in 1968, the University of Hawai'i was guided by Acting Presidents Robert W. Hiatt (1968-69) and Richard S. Takasaki (1969). After a yearlong national search, the board of regents in 1969 named Harlan Cleveland the university's eighth president.

Harlan Cleveland was born January 19, 1918. After the premature death of his father in 1926, he and three siblings were raised by their mother, Marian Phelps Van Buren Cleveland.

He earned his bachelor's degree from Princeton University in 1938. Until World War II halted his studies he was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University.

During the war he was an economic warfare specialist. In the postwar he administered international relief and recovery programs in Asia and Europe. In the early 1950s he was executive editor and publisher of The Reporter magazine.

In 1956 he was appointed professor of political science and dean of the Maxwell Graduate School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

During the 1960s Cleveland served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs under President John F. Kennedy, and U.S. Ambassador to NATO under Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon.

For five years, beginning in 1969, he served as president of the University of Hawai'i.

Following his resignation from the university in 1974, Cleveland developed and directed an

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international program at the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies and in 1988 retired as professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota where he served as the founding dean of the Hubert H . Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.

A political scientist, diplomat, and public executive, Harlan Cleveland continues to write articles and books on world affairs and leadership. He also remains active in the World Academy of Art and Science of which he was president at the time of the interviews .

Warren Nishimoto conducted eight tape-recorded interviews with Cleveland between January and April, 1996. The untaped preliminary interview and first three taped interviews were conducted in Pahala on the Big Island of Hawai'i, where Cleveland and his wife Lois spent the winter months. The remaining five taped interviews were conducted at their home in Minneapolis, Minnesota .

Cleveland readily agreed to be interviewed. He welcomed the opportunity to reflect on his life and career, easily recalling events relating to his childhood, education, service in government, and tenure as University of Hawai'i president. He mentioned his hopes to use these interviews in the writing of his memoirs, which he often intended to write but put off due to his traveling and writing schedule.

Harlan Cleveland served as the University of Hawai'i's president during one of the most tumultuous eras of the twentieth century. Across the nation, college students demonstrated against the Vietnam War and protested societal injustices such as race and gender discrimination. A unique culture based on activism, rock music, drugs, and social and intellectual awareness developed. During those years, America also endured scandals which led to the resignation of its vice president and president. The nation's trust in government and its leaders was at its nadir .

Harlan Cleveland stepped into the University of Hawai'i presidency in the aftermath of a long, bitter dispute between and among the university administration, faculty and students regarding the tenure of Oliver Lee, a UH-Manoa political science professor whose strong antiwar views led to the denial of his tenure application by the Thomas H. Hamilton administration, a decision supported by the UH Board of Regents. Hamilton's decision was subsequently appealed on the grounds that it violated Lee's right to due process. This appeal was supported by the UH-Manoa Faculty Senate. Hamilton then announced his resignation in June of 1967 and formally left office in May of 1968. On April 26, 1969, the regents named Harlan Cleveland, former dean of Syracuse University's Maxwell Graduate School of Citizenship and ~ublic Affairs, president.

Author of books on executive leadership, Cleveland, with his long and distinguished career in federal government service and international diplomacy, was a logical choice to lead the university past troubled times.

In January 1970 he presented to the campus and community-at-large, "Prospectus for the Seventies," a draft plan intended as a basis for discussion. His aim was to develop a plan reflecting a consensus of individuals and groups who influenced and were influenced by the university. (The entire text of "Prospectus for the Seventies" appears at the end of Cleveland's interview in this volume.)

During Cleveland's tenure, many significant and long-range programs were instituted, including the establishment of the four-year medical school, the law school, and the University of Hawai'i at Hilo. Reflective of the times, innovative programs such as New College, Survival Plus, and a month-long "Interim Session" each January which featured speakers, dialogues, and events relating to issues of the

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day, were implemented under Cleveland.

Initially looked upon with distrust among campus activists who considered Cleveland to be too closely tied to the U.S. government, his liberal Democratic background eventually led Cleveland to be critical of U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia. He spoke out in support of moratoriums and student strikes. He was regarded as a conciliator adept at working with campus activists on a one-to-one basis or in small groups.

Many, however, were critical of Cleveland's management and leadership style. His style based on consensus building, delegation, and variations around themes, rankled administrators, faculty, regents, and legislators. Some considered Cleveland indecisive.

On December 6, 1973, Cleveland announced his resignation, effective fall 1974.

Transcript Usage This volume of transcripts contains a glossary of all non-English and Hawai'i Creole English (HCE) words (which are italicized in the transcripts) and a detailed subject/name index.

There is a series of numbers at the beginning of each transcript. This series includes, in order, a project number, audio cassette number, session number, and year the interview was conducted. For example, 25-15-1-96 identifies COH project number 25, cassette number 15, recorded interview session 1, and the year, 1996.

The interviewee read the transcripts and was asked to make any deletions or additions he considered necessary before releasing the transcripts for publication. Interviewee additions/changes are in parentheses ( ). The COH staff used the Chicago Manual of Style as a guide in copy editing. Minor editing for clarification and historical accuracy was done by the COH staff. Every attempt was made to not alter the flavor and authenticity of the interviews while editing. COH staff additions are noted by brackets [ ]. A three-dot ellipsis indicates an interrruption; a four-dot ellipsis indicates a trail-off by a speaker. Three dashes indicate a false start.

These transcripts represent statements the interviewee wishes to leave for the public record. After reviewing and approving publication of the transcripts, the interviewee signed the following agreement:

In order to preserve and make available the history of Hawai'i for present and future generations, I hereby give and grant to the University of Hawai'i Center for Oral History as a donation for such scholarly and educational purposes as the Center Director shall determine, all my rights, title, and interest to the tapes and edited transcripts of interviews.

Transcript Availability These transcripts are the primary documents presently available for research purposes. The audio cassettes are in storage and not available for use, unless written permission is obtained from the Center for Oral History.

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Copies of this transcript volume are available at the following locations:

Hawai'i Hawai'i Public Library (Hilo) Kailua-Kona Public Library Kealakekua Community Library University of Hawai 'i at Hilo Library

Kaua'i LThu'e Public Library Kaua'i Community College Library

Lana'i Lana 'i Public and School Library

Maui Maui Public Library (Wailuku) Maui Community College Library

Moloka'i Moloka'i Public Library

COH publications include:

Transcript collections

O'ahu Bishop Museum Library Hawai'i State Library Kaimuki Public Library Kane'ohe Public Library Pearl City Public Library Honolulu Community College Library Kapi'olani Community College Library Leeward Community College Library Windward Community College Library University of Hawai'i at Manoa

Center for Oral History Ethnic Studies Program Hamilton Library

University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu Library Hawai'i State Archives

Waialua and Hale'iwa: The People Tell Their Story (1977) Life Histories of Native Hawaiians (1978) Remembering Kaka'ako: 1910-1950 (1978) Waipi'o: Miino Wai (Source of Life) (1978) The 1924 Filipino Strike on Kaua'i (1979) Women Workers in Hawai'i's Pineapple industry (1979) Stores and Storekeepers of Pii'ia and Pu'unene, Maui (1980) A Social History of Kana (1981) Five Life Histories (1983) Kalihi: Place of Transition (1984) Waikz7cr, 1910-1985: Oral Histories (1985) Ka Po'e Kau Lei: An Oral History of Hawai'i' s Lei Sellers (1986) Perspectives on Hawai'i's Statehood (1986) Koloa: An Oral History of a Kaua'i Community (1988) Liina'i Ranch: The People of Ko'ele and Keomuku (1989) Oral Histories of African Americans (1990) The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts: An Oral History (1991) Public Education in Hawai'i: Oral Histories (1991) 'Ualapu'e, Moloka'i: Oral Histories from the East End (1991) An Era of Change: Oral Histories of Civilians in World War 11 Hawai'i (1994) Hawai'i Political History Documentation Project (1996) The Closing of Sugar Plantations: Interviews with Families of Hiimiikua and Ka'u, Hawai'i (1997)

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Presidents of the University of Hawai'i: Fujio Matsuda (1998) Reflections of Piilama Settlement (1998)

Books Uchinanchu: A History of Okinawans in Hawai'i. Published in cooperation with the United Okinawan

Association (1981) Hanahana: An Oral History Anthology of Hawai'i' s Working People (1984)

Finding Aids Catalog of Oral History Collections in Hawai 'i (1981) Catalog of the ESOHP Collection, I976-1984 (1984) Master Index to the ESOHP Interviews, 1976-1983 (1984)

Other Publications How To Do Oral History (Second Edition, Revised 1989) Oral History Recorder newsletter (1984-.)

The staff of the Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, believes that researching, recording, and disseminating the experiences of Hawai'i's people will stimulate further research and foster a better understanding of our islands' history. COH is responsible for any errors in representing or interpreting the statements of the interviewee.

Honolulu, Hawai'i November 1998

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